Duke Realty Corporation

About Duke Realty Corporation

Duke Realty is royalty in the realm of US commercial real
estate. The self-managed and self-administered real estate
investment trust (REIT) owns and develops office and
industrial properties primarily in major cities in
the Midwest and East. In addition
to about 750 properties totaling more than 135
million sq. ft. of rentable space, the company owns some 4,800
acres of undeveloped land with options to acquire more. The
REIT is also building its holdings of industrial and medical
office properties, which account for about three-quarters of its
portfolio. Duke's service operations include construction and
development, asset and property management, and leasing. The
company was founded in 1972.

Duke faced challenges during the economic recession as the
commercial real estate market softened and the economy as a whole
took a nosedive. Beginning in 2008 the company was forced
to make several changes in order to protect its existing assets and
grow capital. It limited new development, refocused on nearly
20 core markets, and continued its strategy of diversifying
itself by property type.

Duke has been busy repositioning itself as the economy
stabilizes. It is divesting older non-core suburban
office properties in the Midwest and using some of the proceeds
from the sales to invest in medical office buildings (which
are in higher demand) and warehouse and distribution
properties near seaports, such as Baltimore, Houston, and Savannah,
Georgia. The company has also ramped up its development of such
properties.

As part of Duke's strategy of building its industrial assets,
the company in 2010 bought out its joint venture partner's 50%
stake in Dugan Realty. The deal added more than 100
industrial buildings and 60 acres of undeveloped land in the
Midwest and Southeast. Duke also acquired more than 50 bulk
distribution/warehouse facilities and five office buildings in
South Florida from Premier Commercial Realty. During 2011 the
REIT bought nearly 30 more bulk distribution facilities
and nearly a dozen medical office properties around the US in
several separate transactions.

After two consecutive years in the red (including a more than
$330 million loss in 2009), Duke reported profits of $31.4 million
in 2011. Gains from property sales and improved occupancy
rates at its industrial and medical office properties boosted the
company's results.